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2013 Colorado legislative session scorecard

By Kurtis LeeThe Denver Post

Posted:
05/09/2013 12:01:00 AM MDT

Updated:
05/09/2013 09:24:16 AM MDT

Colorado state Rep. Sue Schafer, left, of District 4 gets a hug from fellow Rep. Ray Scott, District 55, and Rep. Rhonda Fields hugs Assistant Majority leader Daniel Pabon as they mark the end of the session in the House of Representatives on Wednesday. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)

As the historic passage of laws regulating recreational marijuana sales dominated the news in the final days and minutes leading up to Wednesday's sine die to the 2013 legislative session, several bills also either passed or died on the calendar.

On Monday morning 113 bills remained in play. By Tuesday afternoon, it had been winnowed down to 39. And by Wednesday, a majority of the bills received a yes or no vote, though some were laid over until after the session — a move essentially spiking the measures.

Bills focused on income tax credits, oil and gas measures and child welfare reform, all received final votes this week.

The bill allows county child welfare departments to file a Title IV-E Waiver. The waiver gives departments more flexibility in obtaining funds that before were reserved specifically for cases with children put in out-of-home placements, such as foster care.

Senate Bill 255

Passed

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Requires that every preventable child fatality in the state, ranging from homicides to accidents, undergo a case-specific review by either the Colorado Department of Human Services or the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Local and regional public health departments will be required to create child fatality prevention teams.

House Bill 1271

Passed

The bill creates a statewide hotline to report child abuse and neglect and an intensified training program for workers who screen abuse and neglect calls. A steering committee, which will include county and state child welfare experts, will help set up the specifics of the hotline, a public awareness campaign and training program. It will likely take two years to create the hotline. Target date is January 2015.

Immigration

Senate Bill 251

Passed

Allows immigrants in the country illegally to apply for new a category of driver's licenses. Gives state until August 2014 to design a new card for this category of drivers.

Marijuana

House Bill 1317 & Senate Bill 283

Passed

Both bills create regulations for marijuana legalization and recreational pot shops. While Senate Bill 283 contained mostly non-controversial proposals like prohibiting marijuana smoking in bars, House 1317 carried the more hotly debated topics and took longer to pass.

House Bill 1318

Passed

The bill allows a 15 percent excise tax and an initial 10 percent sales tax for recreational marijuana. Voters, though, will have the final say, since the bill refers the taxes to the ballot.

House Bill 1325

Passed

Sets a limit of active THC — the psychoactive chemical in marijuana — that drivers can have in their blood before juries can presume they were too high to drive.

SCR 3

Failed

A complicated effort to link a potential moratorium on recreational marijuana sales to the tax ballot measure, SCR 3 lived fast and died young. It arrived in the legislature at about 6 p.m. on Monday. An hour later, it cleared a committee hearing. About two hours after that, it effectively died when the full Senate declined to take it up.

Called for the formation of a task force to "advise the general assembly regarding issues surrounding the loss, maintenance, and restoration of the right to purchase and possess firearms by persons who, as a result of mental health issues, alcohol abuse, or substance abuse, are clearly dangerous to the health and safety of themselves or others."

Oil and Gas

House Bill 1316

Failed

Sought to increase ground water testing around oil and gas wells in the Front Range's Wattenberg Field.

House Bill 1267

Failed

Would have raised fines for violations of the state's oil and gas rules. It died on the calender after the sponsors were unsuccessful in getting the Senate to accept a requirement for a minimum mandatory fine for serious violations.

House Bill 1269

Failed

Would have changed the charter of the state's oil and gas commission removing from its mandate to "foster" oil and gas development so it would focus on health and safety and barring commissioners from jobs paid by the industry.

House Bill 1278

Passed

Lowers the level at which an oil and gas spill has to be reported to one barrel from five barrels. Also requires notifying state and local emergency agencies within 24 hours.

Tax Credits

Senate Bill 1

Passed

Grants income and child tax credits to lower-income working families. Certain triggers in Congress and at the state level — where, for example, the state must collect money in excess of its spending limit under the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights — for these measures to take effect.

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